Andoni Iraola has had a fine start to his Liverpool career, but he may need a big moment to really spark this era into life…
I’M PLEASED to announce that a new Anfield Wrap podcast will launch over the international break.
The Origin takes a person, game, period or concept from Liverpool’s history and discusses its legacy and relevance in the current day. Neil Atkinson and I will take you through our chosen subjects, starting with Liverpool’s 1986 run-in and double win at the hands of Everton.
The format is slightly different, drawing on research and opinion to establish how key moments or figures from Liverpool history arrived at such a point.
Delving into the past reminds you of the touchpoints for events that would go on to define players, teams and eras.
Tottenham away with a snow-hit backdrop in 1986. Wigan at home in 2008-09. Trouncing Newcastle in 2012. Examples which all represented an arrival of some sort. The arrival of the title challenge, the team or the manager. The moment belief coursed through a fanbase and hope became the vehicle used to propel us.
It doesn’t matter whether it worked out. You didn’t have to beat Howard Kendall’s men to the two biggest prizes on offer. You could’ve fallen just short like Brendan Rodgers or Rafael Benitez’s men eventually did. The point was you lived in the belly of its beast. You let it take you, body and soul.
Five games into 2026-27, I believe we’re all yearning for a similar feeling. Andoni Iraola has done the noble thing of remaining unbeaten. His Liverpool team is far from perfect, but Iraola has realised that being at Liverpool means you can’t go 10 games without a win, while his methods soak into the players.
In lots of ways, Iraola has shown the best traits of someone like Benitez or even Jürgen Klopp. The Spaniard would almost definitely use Ronald Araujo at right back and make his team hard to beat first. The German would have identified the merits and qualities of someone like Lewis Koumas and given him the platform to help the team.
It’s a testament to Iraola that Liverpool can remain looking pretty healthy on three fronts with only Fulham as a categorically ‘bad day’, yet supporters still seem slightly lethargic about the entire endeavour thus far.
That speaks to many elements of where we currently are. There will be those who warily cast a glance at last season’s flying start, which unravelled spectacularly after the international break. The run of fixtures after this return is significantly more challenging.
There is also the nature and personality of this group and Iraola himself who, despite undoubtedly being a good man, veers more towards his team’s air of introversion and reclusiveness than to a figure like Klopp.
It feels like we’re all waiting for a moment of personality to shine through from this team. An occasion where Liverpool achieves something in the face of true adversity. Where we get to look into the whites of their eyes and measure their true appetite.
I don’t doubt them, but I’ve watched the ‘Inside Training’ videos, the interviews and the dynamics, and they are a quiet bunch. Quiet is good. Quiet often means sound. But we’re at the point of decibels needing to be considerably raised to bring this era to life.
To achieve this, we need a moment equivalent to a big away win or a battle from behind with last-minute mayhem inside Anfield. I think we need this more than some notion that Antoine Semenyo’s interview quotes will suddenly manifest in Liverpool’s players during a game.
It’s true that big moments are needed from players under constant scrutiny, with Florian Wirtz being the latest. But a collective show of personality is a more pertinent tonic than Wirtz posting two assists or another Dominik Szoboszlai screamer.
Anfield and Liverpool need to believe in something again. The manager has done a fine job ensuring competence and results are satisfactory in his early games. Now it’s time to show us what his team is made of.
They need to take us on a journey. We know no other way.
